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Monday, March 30, 2009

Got up this morning and tried to get back into a routine. I was able to get the monsters off to school. Then got home and started the bread. I love making the bread, the whole house smells nice. While that was rising I peeled the lemons. I only lost 3 because I had to wait. Then I dropped them one by one into the juicer. That is a great invention. It is old but it still works great. So I have the juice in the fridge as I ran out of time today to can it up. Also got 3 loads of laundry done. Even got a couple of banana's in the dehydrator. Not to shabby. Still have the curtains from the one bedroom and the window blankets to wash but that will have to wait for another day.

Teenage monster put grandmas cell phone in her pocket the other day. So we went over to return it this afternoon. Grandma proceeds to tell us what our fearless president had to say about the big 3 and them getting the money they need for restructuring. Needless to say "hang on Newton were headed for the rhubarb." I'm not panicking but my stomach sure is in knots. It started out to be such a nice day too!So I put my big girl panties on and we went shopping. I always feel better after I prep. I got more beans, 3 big bags of corn meal for $1.39 a bag, lots of canned goods and some more meat to can up this week. I did notice that Kroger is starting to mark things back down. They had better hurry up cause I now do most of my shopping at Aldi's. Something else I noticed is that Aldi's is about the same price as Wally-world on certain items. So that will save gas as Wally-world is hike to get there.

My trays of seedlings are doing really well. I still need to get some corn to plant as I want to plant plants not seeds. We should have a ton of tomatoes even if nothing else grows.... God willing and the creek don't rise our harvest will be a good one this year. The end of April I will be going and getting the fruit trees and the grapes and blueberries. And we might even end up with an apple or two. Thank goodness I have a couple of very nice orchards and farm markets I can go to. I'm hoping that they start carrying chickens so then I can get free range eggs closer to home.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Still feeling under the weather. I hope the remnants of this cold go soon. I am so sick of being drained. But I have been able to still get a couple of things done. I got 15 pounds of lemons for $3.87. I sliced some and they went into the freezer as DH likes them that way in his iced tea. The rest I am thinking of juicing and canning. Here is the site with the directions. http://www.pickyourown.org/lemonjuice.htm they weren't easy to find mind you. Well, I would have to go back and get the rest of them. They had a 3 or 4 more bags. I was also able to pick up some more strawberries at a $1 a pound. Since I won't be able to get any from the farm this year I am thinking that this would be a good alternative as they are from Florida. So far all I could do was freeze them but that is ok. I am thinking about making strawberry syrup out of them. Have to wait and see. LOL! I also have 5 pounds of hamburger to process. But all of that will have to wait until next week.

I have fish fry Friday, then a baby shower brunch Saturday then go and see a band at the local watering hole. Sunday we will make beer and Irish Red to be exact. DH got the kit not the one you can buy at the local grocery store but one from a brewery store. Now I'm not sure what the difference is other then the price... LOL! But we will have beer in 7-14 days. Can't wait it should be really good. If it does turn out then I will have to share my 5 gallon buckets with DH.... Looks like a war of the roses might just take place.... Just kidding!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Sorry I haven't been around. I have been feeling really crappy. I think that it is just remains of the cold I had from last week. I just can't seem to get it together. But when I am feeling ok, DH and I have been window shopping over the past couple of days.

Lowe's:1 McIntosh semi dwarf1 red delicious semi dwarf1 pear semi self pollinating dwarf2 grape vines2 blueberry bushesAll this for under a hundred dollars... Soon I hope to get them. They will be planted at my mom's as she has more room then I do. The grape vines I will keep here. I need to dig up the raspberry bushes and transplant them to my mom's also.

We went to Wally-world yesterday. I was able to get some onion sets and some grocery's to put in the storage. DH looked at ammunition and was very disappointed because they didn't really have anything. This was the first time that he saw first hand what I have been telling him from what I have read online. So now we will be able to step up preps a couple of notches.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Nope didn't get rid of me... LOL! I have been sick as a dog since Saturday morning. It came on so quickly that I barely had time to fall into bed and that is where I stayed for 3 days. Got up late Monday to clean the house and the Tuesday to cook for everyone that was invited for St. Pats. Everyone raved about the food.... I am so happy as I cook from smell not taste and I couldn't smell anything being so stuffed up. I still don't feel well. Coughing and stuffy and tired. This bug really kicked my butt. With me being sick we all learned a valuable lesson. We need more heat and serve food items in the house. The bakery down the street is fine for when I don't have time to make homemade but for everything else. Well, lets just say we need more heat and eat food. So that is what I will be working on for the next couple of weeks. Putting stuff up in the freezer and canning more. I have my work cut out for me. Oh, I have decided to break down and get my subscritions to Grit and Backwoods Home. I usually just buy at the store but now I have to go to the book store at the mall to get them and it is a waste of time to drive that far to get them so they will have to be mailed to me. Oh well!

Sorry this is so jumbled today. Lots to do and I didn't want you all to think I died or something.

Friday, March 13, 2009

I don't have a problem with Friday the 13th. As a matter of fact I happen to find the number 13 to very lucky for me. I was born on the 13th not a Friday I'm sorry to say. LOL! A few years ago I bought a raffle ticket and the number was pulled on Friday the 13th and I won the grand prize and boy o boy was it grand.

Normally, I am a running fool of Fridays but today I think that I am going to take it easy for a change. I will be doing a deep clean on the house this weekend. As we are going to have a house full on St. Pat's. I still have to go grocery shopping over the weekend also.

I have the fish fry tonight. I hope we do as well as we did last weekend.It all depends if I get voted to be President again next year, but if I do I have a ton of ideas. Most of them to help out the community. Which is why we are here.

But anyways today I plan on just making phone calls and playing with the computer till later. I love lazy days.

We got a light frost this morning. I hope that it doesn't hurt my chives and the buds on the lilac. Those are the first signs of Spring and I would hate for them to die off.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

I think that this will be the last post for today.I just wanted to let you know that I went to the bulk store .I got powdered potatoes, cheese powder, jello powder & 50 pounds of wheat flour.Potatoes $9.95, Cheese $3.29, Jello $2.79 & Flour $16.Not a bad haul.

Hoping to go back and get tons more when we get our taxes back.Lots to still do before bed!Gotta Run,Yart

The Madd Canner strikes again!Today I did 20 pints of kidney beans.Only 19 fit into the PC.I have to make sure that I use only one size of pints. I had both standard and wide mouth.First time using this many jars at one time.I love my PC!!

I put the one unprocessed jar in the fridge.Will use it up sometime this week.Not sure what I will do yet!But it will be something great.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Ok, I was so ready for spring to come now that the rains have started I have a whole new mess to content with. My basement is shifting. Not a lot mind you but it has moved none the less. And I am now having to deal with the spring rains and the thawing ground pouring into my pantry area. I mopped all day today. I have a fan going. But it really isn't doing anything. I have always had water but this is just ridiculous.

Since I was here in the basement waiting for more water to enter I started going through some boxes. I have tons of stuff to get rid of. I have a lot of bar glass ware to sell, handed down....nothing really good. But sellable none the less. I found a couple boxes of paper work that needs to be shredded. I will get the kids on that this weekend. So I have more work to do.... Sometimes I should just leave well enough alone.

Made taco's tonight, hamburger, refried beans, tomatoes, cheese, and sour cream, salsa and taco sauce. Oh and corn tortilla I had in the fridge. I talked to DH about sprouting seeds. Because that would have come in handy tonight as we had no lettuce. We think that the sprouts might have worked really well. So I saw that they have some at emergency essentials and they have some at waldon foods. I will have to order a small amount to see which ones we like better. We also talked about Aramath. I hope I spelt that right. I think I am going to plant it right in the front yard as it is very pretty. Since I don't know the type of yeild I will plant a couple of rows. Hopefully, it takes off really well and we get a lot of grain from it.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Just to recap the weekend. Sold 100 fish dinners on Friday, moved a friend on Saturday & felt horrible on Sunday!

So now we are back to the weekly grind. Because of the stupid time change I over slept.... I got up with the alarm and got the monsters up... Then I layed back down only to have the teenage monster say whos taking us to school? Me I said in that distant gutteral type of voice... LOL! I hate Monday's. But after that the day was really good. I got the bread made and I even made granola for lunches.... I think that there is a hole in the bag as I thought I made more then what is in there now???? Hmmmm!

I was able to get the afghan done... Now I am doing the happy dance. This will be the last one until the weather turns cold in the fall. I need to get some of the other projects going here at the house. I still need to learn to sew. The material and patterns are just waiting. But the weather is starting to change. My lilac bushes are starting to bud up. The chives are even starting to grow. Who knew! I guess when I was stuck in the house mother nature stopped by and dropped of a few spring like presents.

I have a ton of pictures to put up here. Maybe tomorrow! Well, off to bbq!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Today would have been my Gran's 83rd Birthday. She passed away a couple of years ago. But since I have been celebrating her birthday my entire life so why stop now. She was a very special lady. She raised 7 children, was the wife to an over the road truck driver and a gypsy at heart. She loved wild flowers, the open road and quite time by the lake. She taught me a ton about how to be a good person and how to be a great mom. I loved the time that I was able to spend with her. And how I wish I would have spent more time with her in her later years. But excues are a plenty..... Now I am left with the loving memories of a very special lady whom I loved dearly!

Now back to life.....

I made a double batch of pretzels yesterday.. But I didn't even have a chance to think to take a picture... and they were gone... LOL! But that is how the pretzel is eaten. They were very good. I just wish they were easier to make. I think I am going to look for a playdough machine that will make the rope. If I can then we will have pretzels all of the time.

Got the laundry and some of the dishes done. I wasn't able to make soup today. Picky monster had a half day of school as it was conference day. She is on the honor roll for the first time.... Yeah Picky Monster!

Tomorrow is super busy as every Friday here is. So I will be back with the weekend report.Gotta Run,Yart

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

I got the laundry soap made yesterday. It turned out thicker this time. I did everything the same. It is fine just had to use my wand mixer to make it liquidy. So now I am set for the next few months. I even have enough of the powders to make another batch. So it will have cost me $14 for an entire years worth of laundry soap. Not a bad deal. And with using vinegar for the fabric softener, I only pay $1.29 a bottle and I just opened my second bottle last week. Loving the money I am saving.

I will be making pretzels again today. The family just loved them when I made them the last time. I also have to make some granola bars again. Plus it is time to finally get my taxes done. But I can get everything done today that I want to do and should be able to enjoy an evening of matching socks. LOL!

Laundry and dishes oh my! The laundry is in as I type. I still need to take the dry stuff off of the line. I also have the dishes soaking, just waiting. LOL! I don't think that my lettuce is going to grow. I checked on it this morning and it looks like there is mold growing on the seeds. Too much moisture. Damn!!! Will have to try again. But luckily it is early enough that it isn't to big of a loss. Just disappointed.

I tossed some things together for dinner last night. Lentils and rice, stewing beef braised, beef gravy made from drippings, ravioli from freezer (store bought), butternut squash sauce for the ravioli, corn, beets and applesauce. Even picky monster ate, not too much but she did eat. And I learned a valuable lesson, as this was the first time I cooked lentils. 2 cups of lentils and 2 cups of rice is way to much food even for us.

I am keeping up with the treadmill. I am now up to 1 1/4 miles it takes me 25 minutes. I am seeing small changes. But that is what I want. I don't want to loose everything and just gain it all back. Slow and steady will get me to where I want to go.

I am hoping to use up the soup bones that I have. I can't wait to make beef stock and them the soup that goes along with it. Yummmmm! But I think that it will have to wait until tomorrow. Well, I hear those chores calling my name,

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

I was super busy all weekend long. The birthday party and recital went really good. I was able to get 4 loaves of yummy bread made yesterday so I am back on track with that. I made meatloaf on Sunday and we had leftovers on Monday. Not sure what I am going to do for dinner tonight yet. I wanted to let you all know that on the left column I have included a link to Everyday Food Storage. It seems to be a site that has some really good information. With all of that said, I need to move on.

I have been trying to homestead on a lot of 33x107. I can't have chickens or any type of farm animal as we live in the city. Not a great big metropolis even though that is just a matter of 10 minutes North of here. It is a quite little community of a couple thousand. We are surrounded by other little communities all trying to get business. This area use to be very much automotive-ly dominated. We have a 3 bedroom home bungalow style with a basement and a detached garage. Now that you have all of the logistics of the homestead... LOL! I can tell you why I just told you all that.

I know that most homesteaders live on land that can have animals and huge gardens and animals to hunt right on the property. But there are those of us who are at least trying to lessen our impact on the earth and make a better life for ourselves and our families. We happen to be one such group of individuals... aka my family.

I hang dry all of my laundry, I have in the recent past had a container garden, I cook from scratch as much as possible and a ton of other things. But I want to start getting on to this topic more and more. As we can't be the only family doing these things and searching for information. I will include more things here. Instead of me just talking about my days.

Today I must make more laundry soap. Here is a video:Click Here
The last time I made soap was back in November. So it lasted months.

My seedlings are doing really good. The eggplant have sprouted up. The only thing left to sprout are the peppers. I also decided to do some winter sowing. I got the milk jugs going. I put in lettuce. I figure that it is the best thing to start with as I am so jones-ing for some home grown greens. I did those up Sunday night.

If you don't know when you can plant safely. You can check here. Plus the National Gardening Association has a great deal of information. I'm area 5b. Now I need to find out what that means. LOL! My last frost date is 5/12& 10/9 is the first. So as long as I plant within these dates I should be fine. You can also find out what your local frost dates are by clicking here.

I will try and get the pictures I took up on here later today.
Gotta Run,
Yart